Psychopathy I - Module Notes.rtf

Psychopathy I
Introduction
Life-consuming effects
· Psychological disorder can be life-consuming
· Can't move on a psychological disturbances
What is Abnormality?
The 4 D's
· What is normal/abnormal varies across people, cultures, and time periods
· Criteria used as guidelines and exhibiting 1 or more of these characteristics doesn‟t
label someone as having a psychological disorder
1. Deviance:
o Being outside the standard of a given society – thoughts, emotions, and behaviours
o Not everyone who differs is disordered
o People with psychological disorders deviate in some way from the typical behaviour of
others
2. Distress
o Negative feelings due to the disorder – anxiety, sadness, or despair
o Psychological disorders often, but not always, cause strong feelings of distress
o Being free from distress does not always indicate health
§ Bipolar patients in manic phase feel elated and not distressed
§ Antisocial personality disorder feel no remorse/distress when harming others
3. Dysfunction
o Interfering with ability to function – cant earn a living or run a household
o Psychological disorders often cause dysfunction in completing everyday tasks, but this
dysfunction may also be voluntary
o Dysfunction can be a choice – means of protest (hunger strike)
§ Described as maladaptive
§ Prevents individual from adapting to environment 4. Danger
o Danger to oneself or others – engages in risky behaviours (drug addiction, violence)
o Not all dangerous behaviour is disordered – extreme sports or eating unhealthy
o Psychological disorders often, but not always, cause a person to place themselves or
others in danger
Classifying Psychological Disorders
Purpose of DSM = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to apply proper diagnosis from
these guidelines. Has two main functions:
i) Provides standardized criteria to aid in diagnosis of psych disorders
ii) Use of common language 2 General Diagnostic criteria
1. Origination within the person – crying uncontrollably about family car accident is a
normal response to an external factor. Disordered behaviour must originate from within
the person
2. Involuntariness – excludes dressing up wild for football game/Halloween
· Must be involuntary
Categories in the DSM
= Criteria for categorization
i) Attempts to group together disorders that have similar sets of symptoms with
assumption that similarities suggest a common cause and can be similarly treated
ii) New versions must be released as more discoveries are made about specific
disorders
The Axes: (Attemps to group together disorders that have similar sets of symptoms with
the assumption that similarities suggest a common cause and that they can be similarly
treated.)
o Axis 1 – clinical syndromes
o Axis 2 – developmental disorders and personality disorders
o Axis 3 – physical conditions
o Axis 4 – severity of psychosocial stressors
o Axis 5 – highest level of functioning
Models of Psychopathology
Functions of Models
4 models include biological, psychodynamic, behavioural, and cognitive
· DSM doesn‟t provide treatment plans for disorders or offer explanation for disorder
· Describes pattern of symptoms
· Helpful for leading an explanation or treatment plan
Biological model– medical/disease model
· Brain function
· Physical causes – physically damaged or abnormal activity of chemicals in brain known
as neurotransmitters cause malfunction
o Genetics, nutrition, disease, and stress
· Treatment often relies on drug therapy
o Drugs to treat disorder, electroconvulsive shock or brain surgery
Psychodynamic model – mental disorder is usually attributed to maladaptive attempts to
deal with strong unconscious conflicts
· Freud believed these conflicts stemmed from unresolved childhood issues
o Freudian theory – believes mental disorders are rooted in an internal malfunction
(psychological malfunction)
o Psychoanalysis – mind and its processes
· Psychological disorders may be due to mental conflict in the mind
· Conflicts may be due to unresolved childhood issues
· Treatment must focus on therapy to cope with underlying stressors o No physical therapy (drug treatment) can actually cure a mental disorder (only
temporarily alleviate symptoms)
o Psychoanalysis can get to root of problem and end disorder
o Today‟s psych therapies focus on personal insight in which therapists try to help
patients understand themselves so they can cope better with life stressors
Behavioural model – are psych disorders an internal (medical) or external
(psychodynamic say internal disordered and maladaptive behaviours seen on outside
are only symptoms of internal issues) problem?
· Established through instrumental conditioning
o Behaviour is the disorder – behaviourism views psych disorders as external, overt
behaviour rather than an internal malfunction
o Conditioning and experiences – people may find that disordered behaviour provides
rewarding attention from others à contingencies, rewards, and punishments influence
our behaviours
§ Behaviourists will treat maladaptive behaviours with conditioning to treat phobias
Cognitive model – psych disorders may be due to maladaptive, negative interpretations
of life events
· Selecting and interpreting information – how you interpret a situation affects your
response
· Example: public speaking
· Identify and change maladaptive thinking
· Cognitive therapy focuses on positive interpretations of situations
· Behaviour therapy focuses on seeking out positive situations and actions
· Cognitive-behavioural therapies (CBT)
o Complement each other, man